 Green Island Ficus was recognized by the Florida Nurserymen and Growers Association (FNGLA) as a Plant of the Year for the year 2000. It has heavy-textured leaves that are a little longer than they are wide - say three to four inches in either dimension, and the shape would be described botanically as orbicular with only an obscure tip. The Green Island tends to spread out sideways and is easy to train as a ground hugging shrub clinging closely to rocks, across beds, or even trailing down a wall. It is also loved by bonsai growers because of its unique structure when left to grow into tree form.
The Green Island Ficus is grown in landscapes as a mounding shrub (getting up to 8 feet tall) or as a low cascading ground cover (staying a few feet or less in height). Of course, as a ground cover, it will need to be sheared from time to time to maintain its desired height and width. Aside from trimming now and then, once it is established it doesn\'t require any regular maintenance. It does not require any special soil type, any special watering requirements, and will survive nicely without regular fertilizer treatments. It is an extremely slow growing plant, so trimming constantly, like so many other Ficus plants require, is not necessary. And if kept as a small trimmed plant, you don\'t have the problem of destructive root system that is so prevalent with other common Ficus plant varieties. It is tropical so it will have to be moved inside for climates where the temperature falls below freezing. It can take most levels of sunlight, from low to high. And finally, it is not known to be susceptible to disease.
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